We’ve known for a while that Clara Oswald was set to leave Doctor Who. So we’ve spent all of the current series waiting for it to happen. Clara has increasingly put herself in dangerous situations and has managed to get herself close to death more times than I can count. It’s getting a tad annoying but I’m actually going to miss Clara. After a few series of hating her, she has really come into her own this series. She and Peter Capaldi make an excellent team. So it got me thinking about the other companions and how much emotional impact their departures has on me. So I present to you, my top 5 most devastating Dr Who companion exits. 5. Amy Pond/ Rory WilliamsI have to admit that Amy and Rory are two of my least favourite companions. I just got bored by the endless love triangle thing. Amy and Rory were the least interesting and stupidest of the modern day companions. Rory became a farcical character who died every fucking week and Karen Gillan is just a shitty actress. She comes from the Keira Knightley school of beauty before talent. I couldn’t wait for them to leave.

So imagine my shock when they eventually departed and I was left weeping for hours. Having spent the entire series going through fake deaths to keep us on our toes, the actual moment was such a shock that you couldn’t help but fall apart. Having successfully created a paradox to stop the Angels, Rory is caught off guard and sent back to the 1930s. Watching Amy decide to follow the love of her life is brilliant but seeing Matt Smith’s Doctor come to terms with that is utterly heartbreaking. Damn you, Moffat!

4. Rose TylerI know that plenty of people will be super pissed off to see Rose’s first departure so far down the list. Quite frankly though, Rose isn’t that great a companion. She was just the first… of the new series anyway. To be fair to her, Rose does go through a journey during her time in the TARDIS and she becomes much stronger and confident than she first was. The problem was the romance. It was getting fucking boring. I want to watch Dr Who because of the dangerous aliens. I don’t want to watch a rom-com set in outer space.

It was getting to the point where the Doctor and Rose either had to get it on or just get away from each other. I’m super glad it was the latter. Still, their final exchange at Bad Wolf Bay is pretty heart-wrenching even for someone as cynical as me. The whole spectacle of it all adds to the ocassion: burning up a star just to see her again. It’s the stuff Tumblr dreams were made of. Of course, the fact that Rose has know had more comebacks than a fucking boomerang has meant her first ‘death’ is becoming less powerful. 3. Danny PinkThose Rose fans out there may argue that Danny Pink isn’t enough of a companion to count on this list but I disagree. Yes, he and the Doctor didn’t get on but he played a big part in the Twelfth Doctor’s first series. So it fucking counts. Plus, bonus points for the additional Brigadier death. It was about time we got to say goodbye and it was heartbreaking.

The main issue with Danny Pink’s departure is that is keeps getting worse. He first dies a totally unexpected and human death. It’s fucking awful. Start of the episode and BOOM! run over by a car. Devastating. Then he comes back as a cyberman/human hybrid. Double devastating. Then his love of Clara prevents him from succumbing and he sacrifices himself to save the world. Triple devastating. In terms of drama, someone giving their life to save someone else is always going to create the most tears. I’m still crying about this one. 2. Clara OswaldSo, this has literally only just happened and we definitely haven’t seen the last of Clara. Even if Clara isn’t really dead (and I think it would be a terrible decision for her to come back) this death is still fucking awful. It was so final, unexpected and horrible. She’d been in incredibly dangerous situations and survived. Now she was dying in such an unspectacular way. So many emotions. Up until this series Clara was on my list of most irritating companions. Then she suddenly became a fully fledged character with some real growth. She was fantastic… and she causes major wardrobe envy.

Then she has to go and play fucking games with death. This death is so devastating because of the relationship between the Doctor and Clara. There may have been hints of romance in the early days but the predominant tone was that of friendship. They were BBFs and having to watch your BBF suffer (either through death or through grief) is fucking awful. The final exchange between the pair was beautifully played out by Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman. If I ever watch it again, please, “let me be brave”. 1. Donna NobleDonna Noble is, without a doubt, my favourite Dr Who companion of all time. I know that’ll be a controversial statement for many but it’s fucking true. Yes, her first appearance was pretty shit but her series as fully-fledged co-star is still one of the best. Finally moving on from romance and puppy-dog eyed lust, Russell T. was on more solid ground with the Doctor/Donna friendship. They had great banter and really cared for each other.

Donna is also the companion to go through the biggest change. She was an self-centred individual who was doing nothing with her life and she knew it. Then she met the Doctor again and became the most important person in the Universe. Even writing this is making me emotional because Donna had so much potential by the end. She became better and happier. Then it was all taken away from her. It’s not fair. The end of that episode is fucking gut-wrenching. David Tennant and Bernard Cribbin’s are so wonderful at displaying their own devastation at Donna’s situation. No matter what happens in the Doctor’s future, nothing will ever be as awful as this. I’ll never get over this moment.

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Published by Murdocal

Who is Murdocal? A casual critic who is a little bit too obsessed with pop culture. A young woman who swears and rants much more than she knows she should whilst trying to make her way in an adult world she isn't prepared for. A not as recent as she'd like literature graduate who, between job applications and subsequent rejections, has turned to the internet to fight the boredom and review the shit out of everything.
"Maybe, just maybe, I'm the faller. Every family has someone who falls, who doesn't make the grade, who stumbles, who life trips up. Maybe I'm our faller."
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